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Vancouver has taken a solid step backwards in its efforts to eradicate street homelessness, with double the people sleeping on heating grates, in alleys and in store doorways this year than last.

In a report Tuesday that left council members nearly vibrating with anger, city staff said the actual number of street homeless has gone from 154 in 2011 to 306 this year.

And they said the situation will get much worse by 2014, with a historic number of homeless being on the street unless the city, provincial and federal governments change the way they provide shelter and agree to continue funding several key projects.

"We run the risk of having the highest number of street homeless ever if we don't make these interventions sooner, versus than later," Brenda Prosken, the city's acting general manager of community services said Tuesday. "If we do not take early steps to intervene, we will see that instability increase."

Prosken and her staff laid the blame for the increase on the provincial government's refusal to reopen several winter emergency response shelters last year and a policy by BC Housing to use the majority of new units built on city-owned land to house people who already have accommodation elsewhere. As a result, many of the homeless the city expected would be given spots in its new buildings remain unhoused.

And with provincial funding for the existing emergency shelters ending in 2013, and the Dunsmuir and At Home/Chez Soi projects that look after 400 people with mental illness and addictions ending in 2014, the number of street homeless will hit record levels with nearly 2,000 people on the street by 2014, Prosken said.

The concerns stem from a homeless count done on March 27 that showed the total number of homeless people — including those in temporary shelters and those on the street — at 1,602. Of those, 1,296 were in shelters that aren't considered to be permanent housing. In 2011 the number of total homeless was 1,581, of which 154 were on the street and 1,427 were in shelters. In 2010 there were a total of 1,715 counted as homeless; 1,294 in shelters and 421 on the street.

This year's count showed three-quarters are men and that aboriginal people disproportionately make up one-third of all homeless. First Nations people represent only two per cent of the city's overall population.

Prosken's report to council was coupled with a new study on the health of the homeless by Dr. Michael Krausz, the UBC Providence Leadership Chair for addiction research.

His study showed that 93 per cent have a current mental disorder and 83 per cent a substance abuse disorder.

The rise in street homelessness caused Coun. Kerry Jang, Vision Vancouver's mental health advocate, to see red. He said he warned Housing Minister Rich Coleman to not close several temporary shelters last year, and the result, unsurprisingly, is that more people are back on the streets.

"It is not good news. We saw a reduction in shelter beds this last winter which resulted in 150 more people sleeping on the street. It's not rocket science to end homelessness," he said.

Coleman was in estimates debate and could not be reached for comment. However, his office provided statistics showing that the province funds 638 permanent year-round shelter beds at a cost of $17 million annually. It also spent $150 million to buy and renovate 24 single-room occupancy hotels with 1,500 units, most of those in the Downtown Eastside.

The numbers are in addition to an aggressive city plan to end street homelessness, including making 14 city-owned sites available to the province for 1,506 new supportive housing units. Five of those buildings containing a total of 439 units have already opened, but Prosken said only 38 per cent have gone to people classified as homeless, with another 38 per cent placed by BC Housing from SRO hotels it controls. The other 23 per cent are people deemed "at risk" or who come from other housing sources. The numbers fall far short of a memorandum of understanding between BC Housing and the city that 60 per cent of the units are to go to people who either live in shelters or who are homeless.

BC Housing is not providing the city with information on who moves into the SRO units formerly rented by people now in city housing, Prosken said.

At the same time, basic housing affordable to those on welfare remains largely out of reach. Only 27 per cent of single-occupancy rooms are being rented at the welfare rate of $375 per month, meaning nearly 75 per cent of the city's cheapest form of housing remains unaffordable for those on welfare, she said.

Prosken said if the city is to achieve its 2015 target it needs help from the province and Ottawa, including:

- Making 436 temporary shelter beds permanent;

- Continuing provincial and federal support for 400 units in the Dunsmuir and At Home/Chez Soi housing programs;

- Dramatically increasing the percentage of homeless people who get into the remaining 1,067 supportive housing units left to be built on city land;

- Adding 450 new supportive housing units in 2015.

Mayor Gregor Robertson said the results of the homeless count were "very frustrating."

"It is directly connected to the low barrier shelter beds not being adequately funded over this past year. I think the pressure on affordable housing continues to push more people out on to the street," he said.

"As soon as we have a setback like this we really need to double down and be resolved that we have to keep this work going. We have to be very honest with the facts, and there are some very disturbing facts here in terms of who is suffering on our streets. We can't let up, we can't give up."

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Vancouver's street homeless population doubled this year: report

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